P4P Energy, a Carbondale, Colo.-based company that specializes in the design of structural support for solar collection equipment, says it has completed the first cable-suspended free-span solar system.
The PV array was installed at REM Eyewear's parking lot in Sun Valley, Calif. It is expected to generate 40,877 kWh of electricity per year.
The solar system is designed to utilize otherwise untapped air-space, in other future applications, such as over aqueducts, irregular terrain, agricultural and brown fields, parking lots, and pedestrian malls and walkways, the company says.
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The suspension system differs from conventional solar installations by eliminating the need for excessive use of columns and foundations that traditionally support photovoltaic panel arrays. Instead, hundreds of panels can lie atop low-cost cables that span as much as 200 feet across.
SOURCE: P4P Energy